With technology from Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, E-Ink recently demonstrated a prototype of a flexible page display that was driven by plastic transistors.

ECONOMIST: SEMICONDUCTORS: Move over, silicon | The

To start with, it is developing a roll-to-roll process to make amorphous-silicon transistors on plastic film.

ECONOMIST: Just press print

After that, says James Sheats, a researcher at Hewlett-Packard who is also Rolltronics' chief technical adviser, the next step will be to apply Dr Carey's work and make smaller, faster transistors on plastic film.

ECONOMIST: Just press print

It used transistors and had a plastic case.

ECONOMIST: Paul Zoll

One way around this is to devise novel transistors that are themselves made of plastic, and therefore flexible.

ECONOMIST: Just press print

Transistors and other circuitry can then be printed on to a flexible plastic substrate.

ECONOMIST: REPORTS